In many ways it's no surprise to find Paul and Nakamura at the center of this three-ring circus: Paul practically invented the hip-hop concept record as the man behind the boards for De La Soul and Stetsasonic (not to mention his wildly ambitious Prince Among Thieves project earlier this year); Nakamura was the man pulling Kool Keith's strings on last year's widely-praised Dr. Octagon record and has also twiddle the knobs for Cornershop and the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, among others. Nakamura slipped in and out of his role as "Nathaniel Merriweather," as he explained to us the origins of the Handsome Boy Modelling School, as well as its future.

I assume you knew about Prince Paul from his days with Stetsasonic and producing De La Soul and all that stuff, but how'd you actually meet?

Well, obviously I grew up listening to Paul. When I was little I used to hear the Stetsasonic stuff and think it was really cool, but basically what happened was, over a period of time, I would see him at places. It turned out, both him and myself, through DJing and producing would end up in a lot of the same places. And I would run into him at like, Fashion Week in London, or in New York City, or someplace like Milan. And eventually we started talking, because obviously he had a really great eye for clothes and it just seemed like a natural combination.

Did he know anything about you when you first met?

Oh, absolutely. He knew I made records. Way before the Octagon records and everything came out, he had copies of it, he had heard about it, he was into it, because it was a conceptual record and he's a very conceptual guy. So by the time we had met we had already known a lot of each other's stuff.

So was it soon after that you decided you wanted to work together or was that further down the road?

Well

"Everyone can be handsome. Handsomeness is an inner state of mind."

, basically when it started out I think there was a slight rivalry, cause, basically, a lot of times these designers create one-off suits and stuff, so we'd both want to be the only one who had it in America, so often, we'd have a little bit of tension. But after we got over that initial part of it, and we actually realized that, working together seemed very natural.

When did you actually start working on the album?

Ah, we started working on the album last March.

Was the concept there from the beginning when you were making the album, or did it develop over time?

Well, basically what happened was, we would be working and working on this thing -- it takes a lot of effort to put these schools together. So we're working on these schools and people would come to us for advice. People often call us and ask us things. Like sometimes Puffy would call up and ask, "Should I wear two chains or three chains?" y'know (laughs), or "Should I wear the white mink full-length or three-quarters?" and y'know, we would answer this stuff graciously -- no problem, they're our peers, we're into it. So we decided it was time put it all together into a course so people can learn from it. And y'know what? It's not just for the Puffys of the world, it's for everybody. And that's why it's only 60 dollars. So the concept was there all along.

If you had to sum up the Handsome Boy Modelling School credo, how would you do it?

Basically, the Handsome Boy Modelling credo is: Everyone can be handsome. Handsomeness is an inner state of mind. Along with some more grooming stuff, but basically you have it within yourself to be handsome, you just have to bring it out.

Obviously, the characters of Nathaniel Merriweather and Chest Rockwell are pretty over-the-top, but were their actual inspirations for these characters?

Well, basically we just want to live the handsome lifestyle and sometimes that involves, doing certain things to bring out the point and the image. To be the actual icons and the showpersons for the Handsome Boy Modelling School, you have bring out the handsomeness to the extreme. And that's kind of what happened. We had to pull no punches.

How were the individual tracks on the album put together? Was there any basic method or formula or did it differ from track to track?

Well, everything differed to a degree, but basically what we did was we got together in San Francisco and New York and did a lot of basic programming. And when we did this programming we were like, "Who are the handsome people we want on this record?" We didn't contact these people at this point, we were just like, "Who do we find to be handsome and would like to have on this record?" And then when we thought of these people, we started making tracks with those people in mind.

Were there people who you wanted to get but weren't able to?

Well, basically we got everybody except we were supposed to do a song with Radiohead that didn't actually end up getting finished, because they were in the middle of building their studio and all this stuff happened.

Were there any tracks that were particularly tough to put together?

Yeah, they're all tough but they're all easy. Yes and no. They all have their difficulties but they all have their virtues. Every record that you ever make may be easy or hard to make but ultimately it's rewarding so you really don't think about that in the end. Like, I don't think about the record too much and go, "Wow, that was so difficult to do," or anything, I just think, "We had a great time making the record." And maybe that's copping out of the answer a little bit, but that'as how it ended up feeling.

Well, how did the process of doing it compare to stuff you had done in the past, whether it was the Dr. Octagon stuff or your own EP or the Bombay the Hard Way project?

Well,

"I’m not trying to make the same song over and over, I’m just trying to bring together a certain aesthetic or a certain sound to the overall thing."

basically they're all the same and they're all really different. What I mean by that is we're there making records, having a good time making records, but at the same time, y'know, we're involved in different elements. What I would say was different about this record was working with Paul, because he's a producer, I'm a producer, it's like two chefs, as opposed to like, some other records where we're being the bandleaders ourselves. And the thing is, working with another producer, it's a lot easier than working with artists, because, as producers, we're used to handling budgets, scheduling studio time and all that kind of stuff. Since we're used to doing that and being responsible, having another guy there who is responsible, makes it seem a lot easier.

Did Paul's experience doing a somewhat similar project with Prince Among Thieves, help or influence the way you worked?

Well, yeah I guess it did. Because of how we worked, it probably made it easier, because he had gone through some of that before. I mean, I had been with him on some of the Prince Among Thieves stuff, not so much working on it, but just being there and being a part of it.

Were you aiming to make an album that was going to be musically distinct from the stuff both of you had done in the past?

No, I think we were just doing stuff that we thought other people would enjoy. I think when we make records, we don't make a point of busting ourselves to make a record to make the record itself. We're there to make the best record we can make, however that happens to be done.

Is it hard when you're putting together an album like this, with so many different pieces to it and so many different people contributing, to keep it reasonably cohesive, so it doesn't sound like 16 unrelated tracks?

I think that's the whole point of it. To make it cohesive, and I think that's what we had to work hardest on. That's what makes it not be some soundtrack record or some compilation record is that factor.

A lot of the guests were people you had worked with before but one that I wasn't sure how he ended up there was Father Guido Sarducci. What was the story with that?

Well, basically he was one of the original handsome gentlemen. He was a guy, originally on nighttime TV wearing black from the beginning. He was like the original handsome gentleman that we all look up to. Kind of like a senior member so to speak.

Do you think about the more commercial aspects of something like this?

I think that we make this record because we want to make this record and that's the real reason, and anything beyond that, we hope people will like to hear it and listen to it, that would be great, but that's not why we made the record.

Do

"Sometimes Puffy would call up and ask, ‘Should I wear two chains or three chains?’ or ‘Should I wear the white mink full-length or three-quarters?’ and we would answer this stuff graciously -- no problem, they’re our peers, we’re into it. So we decided it was time put it all together into a course so people can learn from it."

you think there's a thread that connects all the different stuff that you've been involved in?

I think it's concepts. You bring together a flow, you bring together stuff that lets people hear things in a different light. Like, for example with Octagon, it has a whole image from beginning to end that allows the listener to get in to what's going on, from the skits to the songs themselves, that let's you feel like you're a part of a whole deal. And that's so with Handsome Boy too, where we're bringing together all these different artists, yet at the same time, we're making it be one thing. And that's what we do. That's kind of like -- or Bombay the Hard Way or Acme or whatever -- I'm not trying to make the same song over and over, I'm just trying to bring together a certain aesthetic or a certain sound to the overall thing.

Is that cohesiveness something you look for in the music that you listen to as well as make?

Yeah, absolutely, I like people who make albums. Basically for me, I'm a big music fan, I think. I like albums that have at least 3 or 4 good songs on them, and to take that to the next level I like albums that you can pop them in and listen to them from beginning to end. So like the Portishead album, or OK Computer or the Bjork record, from beginning to end, there's something to listen to. Those are the records that I admire and respect.

Are there projects that you've been involved in in the past that you sort of look back on and wonder why you did it, or wonder what went wrong?

I mean, not projects, there's been a song here or there, that I thought didn't come out as good as it could have. But anything that I've worked on for an extended period of time, I find there's some merit in.

What else are you working on now or do you have on your plate for the near future?

Well, basically we're doing this record called The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, which is myself, Prince Paul and Mike from the Dust Brothers which isa coming out on Dreamworks in probably the second quarter of next year. I just did a couple tracks for the new Primal Scream album and that should be coming out in January I believe. And I'm working on this album right now, with Del the Funkee Homosapien and Kid Koala which should be coming out sometime in the near future.

Now is The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly going to be a similar kind of thing as Handsome Boy, with a bunch of guests and stuff?

Yeah, there are a lot of guest artists, but a lot of different kinds of guest artists, is the best way I can explain the difference. When you see whose on the record, they're different than who's on this record. It lends itself to a different sound.

Are you guys going to be able to tour or do anything like that for the Handsome Boy record?

Well, we did a couple shows. But the problem is that we have so many people on the record, it's hard to get them to drop what they're doing and come out and do a show. So we usually when we've done our shows in the past, past couple shows we've done, we only have three or four of the artists showing up to do it. And that's kind of what we're going to do, and we're not really going to have a tour or anything.

I guess the nature of it makes it almost logistically impossible.

Plus, with all the headaches of running all the schools. It's hard to make enough time to go on the road.

Sure. You can't lose sight of the people.

Exactly. As a matter of fact, let me say now, we're working on making our course into a video program kind of like "Buns of Steel," that way we can reach people anywhere. Like I said, it's not about exculsivity to be handsome, it's about reaching everyone to make the world a more handsome place.

Well, that's quite a noble cause.

That's what we're going for.